Dr. Dean Betram and the good people of Eau Claire, Wisconsin have been hosting MidWest WeirdFest, "a cinematic celebration of all things fantastic, frightening, underground, offbeat, and just plain weird," for a seriously commendable 10 years now and I had the privilege of making my way down to check it out. Even though WeirdFest is essentially next door to the Twin Cities, it landed more firmly on my radar because they hosted one of the premier screenings for Anywhere, a movie I quite liked and reviewed back in January. Dean and Co. very generously provided me with a media pass this year so my wife and I made the short trip to spend a weekend in Eau Claire amidst some friendly and enthusiastic film fans and filmmakers. The old Asian Media Access Hong Kong film series had one of my favorite slogans; "Cinema with Passion," and cinematic passion is exactly what we found in Wisconsin.
Day 1
Peeping Todd (2025) - What a fantastic way to begin the festival! Todd is Josh Munds' tale of the titular voyeur (Chris Alan Evans) who's ability to spy on the focus of his obsession, Claire (Mabel Thomas), faces a series of obstacles including her anally fixated boyfriend (Paul Petersen) and an increasingly vigilant home owners association. Also, it's a musical. Movie musicals are a tough sell for me and not something I would probably elect to review or even watch on my own so I'm especially grateful that I found my way to this one. Todd is utterly unrestrained in its depiction of a largely unsympathetic protagonist and a host of characters who run the gamut from despicable to the merely very strange. It succeeds both by executing the musical numbers beautifully, not only with solid performances but choreography as well, and by being incredibly funny. Without a doubt Todd features some of the funniest songs about stalking, anal sex, masturbation, and the particulars of running an HOA. The dialogue and some of the sight gags are also absolutely ludicrous in a way that really hit. I don't remember the last time I laughed this hard and this consistently in a theater. Todd definitely throws a lot at the audience and while not everything necessarily lands, there's clearly attention being paid to bizarre details from the Mormon rave/orgy to a momentary breakup song between Todd and the bush he normally hides in to watch Claire. It's something I could more easily see becoming a cult hit Off-Broadway but, as silly as it might sound, makes serious use of cinematic language to build some truly ambitious set pieces. I think it will take hustle on the part of the filmmakers and getting their off-kilter baby in front of the right eyeballs, but I could see Peeping Todd becoming a grassroots fan favorite and I hope it happens for them.
This was preceded by a short film from Chris Alan Evans, Hivemind Deluxe, and followed by a fun Q&A with Evans and Assistant Director, Jonnie Stapleton.
Personhood (2025) - Next up was a smartly produced science fiction film from writer/director Richard Jordan about a lonely man in a recognizable near-future and his fraught relationship with an artificial person (AP in the film) companion. Set in coastal Spain, Waylen (Elliot Harris) is an affluent programmer whose physical challenges seemingly isolate him from forming meaningful relationships with anyone other than his adorable dog, Buddy. While the details are kept somewhat vague, a beautiful companion named Gala (Agathe Levi) arrives at his home seemingly prepared to service him both as housekeeper and lover. The two share some awkward exchanges as the limits of Gala's programming conflict with Waylen's desire for her to be more like a "real" person. Things are made far messier when Waylen's oafish younger brother turns up and starts showing his jealousy over Gala and everything else Waylen has managed to achieve. Personhood is a tremendous looking film and deftly manages what is essentially a two-hander between Waylen and Gala for much of the runtime. The performances are quite good across the board. Harris feels very authentic as Waylen and while it's one thing to cast someone with physical differences as the lead in your film, it's refreshing to see them cast as a whole person with sexual desires and significant character flaws. Agathe Levi is clearly gorgeous but manages to lend nuance to what could have been a mere "living doll" style of role. The aspect of Personhood that does falter a bit is the writing. It's difficult to have anything particularly novel to say about AI at this point and some of the dialogue felt nearly improvisational in an unconvincing way. The motivations in the third act get especially murky though it lands on a satisfying conclusion. Definitely a film, filmmaker, and a cast worth keeping an eye on even if it didn't cohere totally for me.
Personhood was preceded by a cool shadow puppet music video for Splash!'s single Under the Rose and a short film also dealing with artificial persons; E.D.G.A.R., which was co-produced with Kodak and I thought had a very cool vintage film stock look to it.
There was another screening but we hadn't really eaten since Minneapolis and weren't sure how many options we would have left by midnight so we departed to a local spot and called it a day.
Day 2
After properly caffeinating and fueling up at the hotel we made it down the block to the Micon for another round of weird and wonderful films.
Creature Fear (2025) - The feature debut from writer/director Manny Gumina who was in attendance at this screening. Gumina mentioned in his introduction that he intended for Creature Fear to be "as Wisconsin as possible" and I believe he nailed it. Creature is largely the story of Paul (Jarrod Langwinski) a small town ex-con in dire financial straits whose desperation leads him to subsist on local disease contaminated venison. This miserable diet results in his own infection, descent into madness, and a series of deaths that begin accidentally but escalate in intent and violence. In his isolation and ravenous hunger Paul indulges in some sinister activities reminiscent of Wisconsin's favorite taxidermy and cash register enthusiast, Ed Gein (Gein is never name checked in the film, but his stomping ground of Plainfield certainly is). Paul's story collides with that of a pair of musicians, local singer Miriam (Natalie Gerene) and Chicago based Charlie (Billy Chengary) who are looking to record music together and navigating a possible romance. Paul and Miriam share a grim connection and details are dispensed deliberately maintaining some air of mystery. There are extensively gruesome sequences featuring bodies both animal and human that are visceral in the most literal sense possible and this is contrasted with heartfelt interpersonal drama between the three leads. The class and culture conflicts between locals and visitors who believe "nothing good happens North of Madison" provides an interesting wrinkle to what could have been a more straightforward "backwoods townie shit" story. While the plot maintains a steady simmer in the third act, things do erupt into a dark, bloody finale that raises as many questions as it answers. Gumina's a Wisconsin native and lends a tangible authenticity to Creature Fear by employing great location work, dialogue, and a hard drinking way of life that rings very true.
Creature Fear was preceded by a cool alien abduction animation from Nick Rohr of Lemon Pulp Studios and followed with a Q&A with Gumina, Langwinski, Chengary as well as actor Jimmy Romano and Cinematographer Derek Schmitt.
Best of the Midwest Shorts - We wanted to see some more shorts while attending the fest and this certainly seemed like the program to check out. I don't have great links for all of these but the festival page has more information on each.
The program opened with a teaser trailer for a project titled House of Flies. I spoke with the filmmakers briefly and they have a feature length screenplay that's getting noticed and are hoping to move forward with the full film. Definitely looks promising from what I've seen.
Country Soul - Another animation from Nick Rohr, this was a music video for the titular song by G'itis Baggs. It was both charming and tinged with melancholy. A touching tribute to the artist.
The Voice in the Vessel - An eerie Twilight Zone-esque story featuring a wonderfully cool automaton that may actually be a channel to the divine. Some great art direction in an attic filled with strange artifacts.
The Stay - A splendidly horrific lo-fi vision of a man on a deadline. Shot on film and featuring a decidedly experimental structure, this was both deeply weird and something I identified with to a disturbing degree. Featured the voice of Wisconsin's own Mark Borchardt!
The Girl in the Street - With a slightly longer runtime of 17 minutes, Girl in the Street has the opportunity to build some dread and tension around the story of a young man, Malachi, who moves to a small town for work. Once you notice that his employers hired the "Summerisle" movers to help him get settled, you know things are going to go poorly. Takes a very dark turn at the end and has some profoundly creepy imagery.
Spanked by a Ghost - Very fun, lightly horny tale of a young woman down for some paranormal extracurricular activities.
Homemade Gatorade - There were definitely moments for this one and I think it was a hit with the crowd. Gatorade is certainly spoofing garbage internet culture but also rooted in that aesthetic which I struggle with. It's a me problem and I'd still recommend checking this one out.
Hyperburn - A sci-fi/comedy/action vignette with some professional polish. Felt more like a promotional reel than a story to me, but there's absolutely a place for that in a festival setting.
Drink Up - Another eerie monkey's paw style of tale featuring some quality performances and some sharp direction. I'll definitely be interested in future work from Wenzler Powers.
Social Media Delivers People - Described as a video "art" project, this series of text and bland imagery decrying the inherent exploitative nature of the attention economy isn't wrong, but it isn't much a film either. Employing AI voices for the narration is definitely a choice.
Texas Strange - A sci-fi/Western mashup featuring an outlaw gang on a distant planet. Not really my aesthetic, but some solid performances here.
Godzilla Visits Minneapolis - This short animation was much weirder and less coherent than I imagined, but how can I complain about Godzilla stomping out the Spoonbridge and Cherry?
Three Chicken Dinners - Hilarious story of a hapless film P.A. trying to order food for his crew from a Wisconsin dive bar. I witnessed something similar when I saw a guy trying to order a Chicago dog with sauerkraut from a local joint. You'd think he'd broken the Geneva Convention.
Blossom Needs a Ride Home - A film for anyone who wonders what happens to the "final girl" after the credits roll at the end of a slasher flick. Loaded with violent slapstick and smartly edited. This was a perfect way to cap off the series.
At this point, we were in need of a brief respite and headed next door to The Mousetrap which is the unofficial bar/meetup spot for WeirdFest. We grabbed a couple of drinks, said hi to some folks and took our bartender's friendly recommendation to grab some takeout from a local burrito spot to enjoy at the bar. Great joint, classic drinks, definitely worth a stop if you're in town.
El Ritual de Lily/Lily's Ritual (2025) - The sophomore feature from Spanish writer/director Manu Herrera employs the time tested formula of taking some attractive people, sticking them in an isolated rural locale, and introducing some supernatural havoc to bloodily satisfying results. In this case, it's a group of four female friends who, rather than stumble across something spooky, have every intention of performing a witchcraft ritual together to invoke a seemingly benign spiritual earth mother entity. There is (naturally) a dark twist and things proceed to go gruesomely off the rails in a stunning showcase of practical gore effects and creature makeup/prosthetics. The cast is both lovely and charming though Herrera perhaps lingers a bit too long on group dancing and sensual bathing sequences before getting to the violent conclusion of the film. As one of my fellow fest-goers noted, if you're going to indulge in that kind of thing you might as well go for something sleazier. We could just be degenerates, but I tend to concur. Herrera's works through familiar territory with enough style to keep the film afloat, though, and then the last 20-25 minutes are sheer gleeful mayhem. Definitely one to look out for.
Ritual was preceded by two shorts: Blindsided featuring visually impaired actor, Crystal Loverro, and a unique perspective on invading monsters. Sleep Tight personified night terrors into a typically spooky boogeyman and involved more foot stuff than I was prepared for.
The Mid-Night Driver (2026) - WeirdFest was the 2nd ever screening and Midwest debut of Alex Cherney's atmospheric period chiller that is not only oozing with an authentic sense of place (Cherney's home turf of Long Island) but sense of time being set around Halloween in 1992. Cherney channels the pre-internet creepiness of urban legends and dark party games centering his story around three teenage girls who attempt to summon the titular Driver based on a ritual learned from schoolmates. While this initial foray into the uncanny is uneventful; one of the girls, Claire played by Devan Delugo, attempts again on her own and succeeds in hailing a mysterious car with a sinister silent Driver to her home. By accepting a ride, Claire peels back the veil uncovering a legitimately eerie nighttime world of occult mystery lying below the surface of her mundane suburban existence. While budgetary limitations certainly must have played a factor, Cherney's implied rather than overt handling of supernatural elements is incredibly effective in creating a enigmatic world that suggests a much deeper lore than what's captured in this narrative. It's usually not wise to throw the term "Lynch-ian" around and I don't think Cherney's work is tonally very similar to something like Twin Peaks or Blue Velvet but there's a shared sensibility around mystery that's instantly identifiable. The Driver gives Claire occasional tasks on their rides and one late night visit to a woman's home reminded me a bit of Donna's unsettling visit to the Tremond residence in Peaks. Though he never utters an intelligible word, Al Reno as The Driver has a terrific screen presence and is able to convey so much with uncomfortable stares and grimaces. Likewise Delugo believably captures the essence of a determined, curious teenager who pushes her limits even if she hasn't fully articulated why for herself. Location selection plays a significant factor in how Cherney evokes Driver's early 90s setting and allows him to do so without ham-fisted platforming of obvious cultural identifiers. There are some fun easter-eggs scattered throughout as set dressing, though, and I'm nearly certain one of my neighbors had the same television/entertainment center/Pictionary box set-up featured so prominently in the film. One of the beautiful aspects of life before everyone carried a computer around in their pockets was that weird tales, legends, and mysteries could be explored and wondered about at length and Mid-Night Driver taps into that analog atmosphere of strangeness marvelously for it's 80 minute runtime. It's one I hope to revisit when the autumn leaves turn and a chill is in the air.
The Mid-Night Driver was preceded by two short films: Film That Never Begins which I thought was very funny and 95 KiD which was not so much my thing. The film was followed by a Q&A with writer/director Alex Cherney.
After Driver we were cashed and decided to call it a night. Sadly, that was the end of our WeirdFest as we had to head home sooner than expected. This was such a joy of a fest: the film selection was excellent, the vibe was casual but things were still happening more-or-less on schedule, everyone I talked to couldn't have been nicer, and I'm already anticipating our next visit. There's a selfish part of me that doesn't even want to spread the word as WeirdFest feels so right-sized to me now, but I absolutely encourage anyone to come check it out. If you're a filmmaker, you should not only be submitting your films to WeirdFest but you should plain on attending! There were so many independent filmmakers in attendance and that only helped bolster the special event atmosphere the fest already had. Thanks goes to Dean and the other organizers (thanks especially for the pass) and the great folks at the Micon (seriously some of the finest movie theater service I've witnessed in ages). Next year, I'm taking off more time so that I can attend all three days and (hopefully) hit that Mousetrap after party.
